OP Reunion
by Nijikawa Satori
Summary: It's sad that Ace never knew Sabo was alive before he died, even more so when Sabo regained his memories of Ace only after his death. So what if in a different timeline, these two brothers had a chance to see each other before the tragedy of the Marineford War? – Days before the said war and his eventual sacrifice, Ace met someone who he thought he would never see again, "Sabo..."


**After re-reading the previous version of this again and again, I finally found out what was bothering me so I decided to rewrite it. I hope you guys would like this one. (thumbs up)**

 **And I'll update two of my stories, I'm just feeling a little bit sick today so I'll give you this one.**

 **OP Reunion**

 ** _Summary:_** _It's sad that Ace never knew Sabo was alive before he died, even more so when Sabo regained his memories of Ace only after his death. So what if in a different timeline, these two brothers had a chance to see each other before the tragedy of the Marineford War? – Days before the said war and his eventual sacrifice, Ace met someone who he thought he would never see again. "Sabo..."_

* * *

"S-Sabo…"

The said man looked at Ace with a confused but wary expression. Ace never thought he would ever stand in front of the man who he thought of as a dear brother alongside Luffy and well, _dead_. The two people –a girl and Fishman- behind Sabo looked at each other in confusion obviously unaware of the reunion between brothers.

They were currently at Scrap Island which was connected to Water 7. Ace's recent lead on Blackbeard led him there where the man was last sighted almost a week ago. And upon knowing Blackbeard was headed for Banaro Island, Ace gave himself a day to make preparations before he set off again. What he didn't expect however, was to bump into someone he now identified as his dead brother.

Memories of that day came flooding in. Dogra came back from Gray Terminal bearing news regarding Sabo's death. The moment Ace heard from him that Sabo was dead he only felt anger towards Dogra for _lying_ , Sabo for leaving, but most especially himself for not getting Sabo back from his nightmare. He wasn't happy being a noble; Ace heard it from his brother himself so why did he even believe Bluejam? His death haunted him for some nights even as a Whitebeard Pirate and he often thought about what he could've done to save Sabo, to get his brother back.

And now, the brother both him and Luffy lost stood before him. How could he not recognize him? He basically wore similar clothes of when he was younger: a long black coat, a white cravat, a blue shirt, blue-grayish pants and boots. Only thing that could be considered different was his missing top hat. His goggles rested around his neck. Sabo also looked pretty much the same except his noticeably longer hair, a scar across his left eye and a full set of teeth.

Ace took a step forward and before he knew it, he had already tackled Sabo into a tight hug. He took no notice of the blonde's bewilderment and the gasp from the spectators as he let his tears soak into his shoulder.

"Where have you been?!" He cried out.

"Wha-what?…" Sabo replied still struggling beneath the man's embrace.

"It's been ten years damnit! How could you just set off on your own? We thought you were dead!" If possible, Ace hugged him even tighter and Sabo couldn't even reply because of the lack of air. Soon enough, his face would turn into the same colour as his shirt.

"Why didn't you…" He whispered. Ace lessened his hug and pulled a hand back. Faster than the eye could blink, a flaming fist connected with Sabo's stomach sending him flying a few metres. "… Why didn't you tell us you were alive you bastard!?"

"Sabo-kun!"

"Sabo!" shouted his two companions. They attempted to retaliate towards Ace but were pushed back by a wall of fire surrounding the fire user and their friend.

"Fire Fist, what did you do that for?!" exclaimed Sabo. He clutched his burning and bruising stomach. His mouth coughed up blood which he wiped it away with the back of his hand. As he stood up to face Ace, he couldn't help but tremble albeit slightly at his terrifying glare.

Without a reply, Ace came charging once more with another flaming fist at the ready. Spotting a pipe on the ground, he rolled away from the punch and picked it up and then coating it with Armament Haki. He stopped another fist from its path with a block of his pipe and the other with his free hand.

"What's the big deal?!" he shouted again. What did he do to anger the man?

Ace struggled to overpower him, "You should've ran when we told you to run. You didn't need to worry about us!" He brought his leg up to kick him but fortunately, Sabo jumped up to avoid the incoming attack. Ace brought up a hand with his index and middle finger pointing towards Sabo, and shot fire bullets. "Fire Gun!"

"Did you know how miserable we felt when Dogra said you died?" Sabo moved from place to place dodging the bullets.

Sabo listened intently as he jumped towards Ace with a pipe at the ready. Ace's free hand shot out and took him by his cravat and slammed him to the ground. Ace loomed over Sabo immobilizing him with his weight. Sabo struggled underneath him until something wet dropped onto his face. Looking up at him, he was crying again. "How can you be so selfish? You didn't have to sacrifice yourself for our lives. And if you wanted help then you could've asked. You didn't have to set off on your own because if you didn't, then…"

Ace then brought Sabo face close to his, "We wouldn't have lost a brother! And I wouldn't have to be the only one to take care of our pain-in-the-ass little brother!" He shouted. Sabo took a deep breath.

"Ah… Sorry…" He followed up, letting loose his grip on Sabo's cravat. "I'm not angry at you; I'm angry at my-"

"I-I don't remember…" Sabo whispered but Ace clearly heard it.

"What?" His eyes widened. "W-wait, what are you talking about?"

"I lost my memories ten years ago… Hey, Fire Fist Ace…" Sabo said and Ace couldn't help but wince at the title for the first time since he got it. He often took the name in pride. That didn't compare however to his next words, "… who was my little brother?"

Rage overtook surprise. He once again grabbed Sabo's cravat. "Who was your little brother? _Who?!"_ He hissed.

" _Our_ little brother is none other than the future Pirate King! Monkey D. Luffy! How dare you even ask that question?!" His grip on the cravat tightened but unlike earlier, Sabo didn't attempt to move away. His eyes lowered.

"Fire Fist Ace… Straw Hat Luffy…" He whispered. His eyes shot up and glared at Ace. "So are you saying you two are my brothers? Do you expect me to believe you just like that?"

Sabo pushed him away and stood up. He patted the dust off his clothes and then gave a suspicious glare at Ace. To have someone dear to you look at you as if you're a stranger, it hurt quite a lot maybe much more than having someone judge you because of your father's sins. He was right. If someone told you that he was your brother out of the blue, you wouldn't believe him right away. Ace remained sitting on the ground.

"I don't know how you know me considering I was in the dark for a long time but…" Sabo shook his head at himself, "I have to go and I can't because of your fire wall Fire Fist." Sabo jerked a thumb towards the wall of fire and without a word or reply, Ace let down the wall.

His two companions were immediately by his side checking him over while Sabo's gaze never left Ace. Ace sat there cross-legged, staring at the ground and was obviously taken aback by his reaction. Sabo's friend tugged him over to the boat and he reluctantly took a step towards it. Not more than a minute passed by when he was back at Ace's side, crouching down beside him.

"Hey…" He said, "Sorry about that… it's just that, I… I haven't gotten a step closer to unlocking my past until now so I was just surprised. Thinking about it now, you don't have a reason to lie."

Ace didn't reply but Sabo could tell he was listening, "I've heard how much of an eater you are. So am I. Is that why? Because you were one too?" Ace snorted softly.

"Heh, having two crazy pirates for brothers that's a little farfetched for a normal person, don't you think? But I'll believe you." Ace's head looked at him with a tired smile, probably from his outbursts earlier.

Sabo was still Sabo, Ace thought. He was still the nice brother he was and no amnesia could ever change that. Maybe he could tell him and his memories might come one after another until he could recall every single one of them. Ace bet he could have a ton of fun telling Sabo about all of their adventures together and some of his own after he set out to sea.

"I'm in a rush right now so do you think you can tell me later?" Sabo said. Ace couldn't wait to tell Luffy either. But right now, he also had a job to do…

"You bet." He grinned in reply, "I have to hunt down Blackbeard first and I'll tell you all about it afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan." Sabo stood up and offered a hand towards Ace who accepted it willingly.

"Sabo-kun!" shouted his friend. They were already on the boat waiting for him. Sabo gave them a wave.

"Well I have to get going." He said. Ace nodded his head in reply.

"Oh, wait. Here." Ace got out a piece of paper for Sabo. "A Vivre Card. Come find me."

"Thanks. So am I going to meet this little brother too?" Sabo took it the Vivre Card and put it in his pocket.

"Yeah, we'll tell you all about it when we see you again." Ace said with another grin.

"I just hope he doesn't hit me the same way you did." He said with a mock shudder. His now called brother only shrugged. Sabo smiled before he left to go to his boat. Ace turned around towards Water 7. Maybe he should get himself some emergency food supply before he set off.

* * *

"Sabo, why did Fire Fist Ace attack you?" Hack asked. They were already a few metres away from Scrap Island.

"Yeah Sabo-kun?" Koala added.

"Well… All I can think of is a friendly family reunion. Even though I didn't know that until he told me." Sabo chuckled to himself before taking his vivre card and looking at it. He always felt nostalgia when he reads the news about Straw Hat Luffy and Fire Fist Ace but he often shrugged it off. He still had his doubts but he for some reason hoped it to be true and then maybe, just maybe after he gets his memories back before whatever happened ten years ago, the three of them could be together again.

* * *

As Luffy's cries echoed throughout the battlefield, Ace, with only one breath away from death, couldn't help but smile in pride that he was able to become to big brother that he wanted to be: the one who protected his family, his _treasure_ until the end.

" _Take care of him, Sabo."_

* * *

Sabo's cries echoed throughout the whole revolutionary base. The person who died wasn't some infamous pirate, or a nameless one, neither was he a person who _claimed_ to be his brother. He _is_ his brother! Memories came flooding in, from the day Ace and he first met, the day they all shouted their dreams, the day they became brothers, and that fateful day where he had supposedly 'died.' His eyes drifted to where his Vivre Card had been and seeing nothing but only fleeting remains of burnt paper, he cried harder.

* * *

Both of them stood in front of Ace's grave with sakazuki cups in hand and they exchanged them once more declaring their brotherhood. Ace wasn't entirely dead. His will lives on besides, what kind of brother would he be if he broke a promise to his little brother?

" _I promise you! I WILL NEVER DIE!"_

 **END!**

 **Sniff… Dang it… Reviews for Ace anybody?**


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